Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars

LA UNICA GOES ON TOUR

Plus: Cigars and the Stanley Cup!

Los Angeles, June 7 – “I wanted to sell La Unica in bundles instead of boxes. By eliminating the cost of boxes, we could offer a higher quality cigar and pass the savings on to the consumer at lower prices.”

That was the late Stanford Newman’s original idea for La Unica, from his 1999 autobiography, “Cigar Family: A 100-Year Journey in the Cigar Industry.” He continued:

“I didn’t like any of the bundled cigars on the market at that time. Most of them were ‘factory seconds’ made from scraps of leftover tobacco, usually by inexperienced trainees, and inferior in quality.

“‘The only way I know how to do this is for you [Carlos Fuente] to make high-quality cigars. All the other bundled brands are seconds, so let’s sell La Unica as firsts, and put the Spanish word Primeros on the label. That way, everyone can tell these are premium cigars. We’ll place them in 300 stores for six months and see how it goes.’

“When we introduced La Unica Dominican Primeros in the summer of 1986, it was the first premium cigar ever sold in bundles. . . . To this day, it remains the best-selling premium bundled cigar in America.”

The success of La Unica led directly to Newman asking Fuente to make his hot-selling Cuesta-Rey brand for him and then, in 1990, they went into business together with Newman’s sales team handling the then-unknown Arturo Fuente brand. It’s done quite well since then.

But times are changing for La Unica. Although there are some who would challenge Newman’s claims on being first to put a premium cigar in bundles, or its sales supremacy, it’s a well-established brand that long ago left the bundle-price category (suggested retail prices of $4.30 to $5.50), although it was still packaged that way.

In mid-2000, the Newmans introduced the La Unica Cameroon Series, a new take on the brand with a Cameroon wrapper. It was offered in boxes of 25 at mid-level retail prices from $5.75 to $7.50. It was only a matter of time before the La Unica Dominican Primeros brand – still made at the Tabacalera A. Fuente – moved to boxes. And now it has.

The new La Unica Cedar Cabinet Collection boxed format retains the look and feel of the old bundles with the same appearance and band. But the cigars are now offered in all-cedar cabinets of 20.

A new size has also been added to the familiar five existing shapes: the no. 600, a 6-inch by 50-ring toro. Newman was amazing prescient: three of the five existing sizes were of 50 ring gauge or more and the new no. 600 makes it four of six.

The “new” La Unica is being promoted with a 36-store, 23-state in-store demonstration and tasting program called the La Unica North American Tour, accompanied by a snazzy La Unica-specific Web site. It debuted on May 24 at Edwards of San Marco in Jacksonville, Florida and will conclude on July 19 at Nick’s Cigar World in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Newmans haven’t left the bundle category, however. One of the company’s hottest sellers is its popular Quorum brand, made with mixed filler in Nicaragua and offered in bundles of 20. Introduced in 2002, it’s priced at just $1.00 to 1.50 per cigar, in line with other bundled brands on the market.

Get those grapes out of here!
Paul Garmirian, father of the P.G. family of cigar brands and the finest cigar cutter ever made – the P.G. Super Cutter – shared a recent run-in at a smokeshop with the Mount Vernon Gazette about a clerk who was telling customers about pairing cigars and wine:

“You can make suggestions on what kinds of drinks go with cigars,” he said. “But wine is a no-no. It’s very high in tannin, very high in acidity and acidity is the biggest enemy of cigars. They call it ‘pairing,’ and there’s no such thing. But if you are eating with a glass of wine and have a cigar after the meal, it’s OK, because there’s a balance.”

Too tough? Garmirian told reporter Greg Wyshynski that people should make up their own minds about cigars and not listen to so much advice. “People say, ‘I don’t know anything about cigars,’ Well, you don’t have to – your palate tells you everything you need to know. To be a food expert, you don’t have to be a chef; you just have to appreciate good food.

“In general, this intimidation factor is a cultural problem because most Americans – who have every right to be more confident than anybody in the world – tend to respect experts and not feel like experts [ourselves] if we go into a field. In Europe, every Tom, Dick and Harry thinks they know it all. The majority of the people here are modest, and unnecessarily so. I consider it a great sign of the nobility of the American consumer.”

What’s the moral? Garmirian put it this way: “There’s no such thing as the ‘best.’ The consumer is the ultimate judge.”

Cigars and the Cup:
As the Anaheim Ducks wrapped up the first Stanley Cup championship by a California team in front of a raucous crowd at the Honda Center in Anaheim last night, fans who had access to the VIP Lounge were treated to champagne . . . and cigars!

The bubbly was flowing freely among the fans in the lounge, but despite the ban on indoor smoking in California, specially-made “Stanley Cup Champions” cigars were handed out. Those who didn’t keep them as souvenirs had a perfect, warm Southern California night to enjoy just outside the Honda Center.

The cigars were made by CF Dominicana Cigars, a custom-cigar producer headquartered in New York. The cigars are Dominican made, with Dominican-grown leaf and a Connecticut wrapper and the sizes we saw ran from $6-7 each. But to get one after the Ducks’ first-ever Stanley Cup? Priceless!
~ Rich Perelman

Bookmark

Email This

Comments (0) add comment